World Bank/ ESMAP Event – Five years of the Global Geothermal Development Plan
Geothermal energy is an integral part of the global effort to tackle climate change and promote sustainable and equitable growth.
Around 40 countries worldwide could meet a good portion of their energy demand through geothermal power. But the pace of geothermal resource development has been slow, mainly due to early-stage investment risks.
The 4th Iceland Geothermal Conference (IGC) brought together more than 600 participants from across the global geothermal industry to share ideas and exchange knowledge and insights to answer this question: how do we break the barriers to accelerate the pace of geothermal development?
ESMAP organized an event jointly with the Icelandic Ministry of Foreign Affairs to commemorate the 5th anniversary of the Global Geothermal Development Plan (GGDP), launched at the IGC in Reykjavik in 2013. The session showcased how the GGDP has helped de-risk the preliminary stages of geothermal development to unlock investment down the value chain. It also provided a platform for countries to share their experiences. highlighting different approaches.
His Excellency, the President of Iceland, Mr. Gudni Th. Johannesson, welcomed participants during IGC’s opening plenary.
As part of the World Bank’s presence at the event, the ESMAP team took short video interviews on geothermal perspectives. Here the videos:
Charlin Bodley, Energy Officer, Department of Infrastructure, Ports and Energy, St. Lucia, shares how her country is scaling up geothermal energy for sustainable growth
Edwin Syahruzad, Director, Financing and Investment, PT SMI, Indonesia, talks about his country’s renewable energy vision and highlights the importance of risk mitigation in geothermal development
María Erla Marelsdóttir, Ambassador – Director General, Icelandic Ministry for Foreign Affairs, presents Iceland’s leadership in geothermal, highlighting its partnership with the World Bank, focusing on gender
Kayad Moussa Ahmed, General Manager of Djibouti Geothermal Development Office, discusses his country’s vision and expectations from the upcoming Fiale project
Ellen Morris, Faculty, Columbia University and President of Sustainable Solutions, discusses how geothermal projects can be gender and socially inclusive
Alexander Richter, President, International Geothermal Association (IGA), highlights the importance of de-risking early-stage geothermal development
Spotlight on Turkey
To support Turkey’s shift towards renewable energy, ESMAP’s Global Geothermal Development Plan helped leverage a US$350 million project to scale up private sector investment for geothermal development by reducing early-stage drilling through a Risk Sharing Mechanism (RSM) and by providing access to long term financing. Ruken Öztekin, Manager, Technology, Research and Business Development Department, Turkey and Co?kun Kanberoglu, Department Head, Development Finance Institutions (TSKB), share their views.